The Player Who Can't Level Up

The association employees surrounding the gate shrieked when they saw the eerie red color staining the blue gate. 

“W-what’s happening?!” one employee yelled.

“It’s a break! This is a gate break!!!” another screamed in fear.

“We need to escape right now! It’s going to blow!” warned one of the agents. 

“But why is it happening now?! Didn’t we calculate three weeks for the break?!” shouted someone while leaving their tent.

“Maybe because it’s an exceptional gate?” answered someone nearby.

Everyone around the gate shouted in fear as they scrambled. But Gi-Gyu remained calm and didn’t remove his palm from the gate. Heo Sung-Hoon ran toward Gi-Gyu and warned, “Player Kim Gi-Gyu! It’s dangerous!” 

A gate only changed color when it was about to break and explode, unleashing its monsters into the outside world. When Sung-Hoon finally reached the gate, he bodily lifted Gi-Gyu and screamed, “Player Kim Gi-Gyu!” 

The association manager responsible for this gate also yelled in shock, “Mr. Morningstar!” 

The moment Gi-Gyu’s hand lost contact with the gate, its color suddenly returned to its normal blue. The menacing crimson vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind the oddly soothing blue gate. 

Confused and surprised, the manager stared at Gi-Gyu and murmured, “What just happened?!” Deducing that the change had something to do with Gi-Gyu wasn’t hard. But neither the manager nor Sung-Hoon could talk to Gi-Gyu when they saw his face. Gi-Gyu looked rigid, just as confused as them. 

“Dammit!”  Gi-Gyu spat out in frustration.

***

Soon after the incident, the association sent additional agents to the Yeosu Gate. Something like this had never happened before. Based on the color changes, it seemed the gate went from being stable to breaking and then back to being stable. This unusual event was bound to attract the entire world's attention. And since people feared the unknown, the public would definitely panic. So, the association moved quickly to prevent the spread of information to the public. Within the hour, the association surrounded the Yeosu Gate.

Gi-Gyu shook his head and muttered, “What a mess…”

Unfortunately, it was Gi-Gyu himself who created this mess. Sung-Hoon teased in a sarcastic tone, “I’m so impressed! I guess you can now even control gate breaks, Player Kim Gi-Gyu?!”

“I told you it’s not like that,” Gi-Gyu murmured with a sigh. Sung-Hoon considered teasing him further but decided against it because Gi-Gyu seemed pretty upset. After a short pause, Sung-Hoon asked in a more serious tone, “So what happened?”

Gi-Gyu and Sung-Hoon were currently staying inside a new tent set up for them a moment ago. A magical barrier was placed around this tent, which meant it was completely soundproof. In addition, no one could enter the tent without Gi-Gyu’s permission. 

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed, frustrated at this complicated situation. Sung-Hoon didn’t know about the existence of Egos yet. He thought that Gi-Gyu just happened to have some unique and powerful weapons. Gi-Gyu contemplated telling him about the Egos, but he felt too lazy to make such an effort. On top of that, Gi-Gyu didn’t think Sung-Hoon needed to know about them just yet. 

Finally, Gi-Gyu decided to give a vague explanation. He replied, “You know that I have a unique ability, right?”

“Yes.”

“I think it has something to do with the exceptional gates.” 

Sung-Hoon nodded and murmured, “I suppose it makes sense since unique abilities are so mysterious.” It seemed that Sung-Hoon accepted Gi-Gyu’s explanation. 

A unique ability was literally a one-of-a-kind ability. No two players could have the same unique ability; they could have two different unique abilities. Consequently, no one knew the true extent of each unique ability. 

Sung-Hoon asked, “So what are you going to do now?”

After a short silence, Gi-Gyu replied, “I think I need some time to think.” 

“Then I’ll go make a report of the current situation to the association,” Sung-Hoon announced and left the tent. 

Finally, alone in the tent, Gi-Gyu asked Lou and El, “What do you think happened?”

Gi-Gyu only approached the gate because he felt familiar energy flowing from it. When he got close enough, his instincts told him what he was standing before. 

“That gate…” murmured Gi-Gyu. 

It was an Ego. 

-But didn’t you suspect this already?

-That’s right, Master.

“It was just a theory.” 

After Gi-Gyu killed Chang-Gyung, Cannibalism was activated for the first time to egofy the monster. Because of it, the gate wouldn’t close, forcing Gi-Gyu to kill every monster inside the gate. In the end, he obtained a piece of Ego from where Chang-Gyung had died. According to Lou, it was an Ego’s corpse or a fragment. 

Since he got the fragment when the gate was about to close, Gi-Gyu wondered if gates were actually a type of Egos. 

“I can’t believe it.” 

As it turned out, he was right: Gates were indeed Egos. 

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed deeply, remembering the system asking if he wanted to sync with the Yeosu Gate. 

-What are you going to do now?

“I don’t know. When I was about to sync with it, the gate color changed, so…” Gi-Gyu murmured with a shiver. A gate changed color only when it was about to break. In other words, had he synced with the gate, all of its monsters would’ve entered this world.

-But it’s an Ego you can sync with! You can’t just leave it like that. 

“I know.”

-Why don’t you try to sync with it first?

“But it would break—”

-Just use the association’s power to secure the city and then try syncing with it.  

Gi-Gyu didn’t reply immediately to Lou’s suggestion. Instead, his mind began to calculate the feasibility of Lou’s idea. “Umm…” 

‘This exceptional gate could really be an Ego, so I can’t just waste it.’

Everything so far indicated that this gate was an Ego. On top of that, it was an Ego that was ready and willing to sync with him. The risk involved was significant, but Gi-Gyu believed the reward would be worthwhile. After making his decision, Gi-Gyu stood up. 

The sun had set by now, and the full moon was high up in the sky, shining brightly.

***

“According to the scouts, the monsters inside this gate belong to the undead category. They believe the monsters’ grades are no higher than C,” explained the manager of the Yeosu Gate. Gi-Gyu, Sung-Hoon, and the manager were discussing the gate inside Gi-Gyu’s makeshift tent. 

Before making any final decision, learning as much about the gate as possible was necessary. They finalized the basic report from the scout team while Gi-Gyu listened to the manager’s analysis. 

Sung-Hoon asked, “Why is this gate considered an exceptional type?” To be considered exceptional, there had to be something very different about the Yeosu Gate.

“All players inside the gate suffer continuous damages,” the manager replied. 

“Hmm…”

“We believe it’s because of the toxins from the undead’s rotting bodies. If you have a poison immunity item, then—” 

Gi-Gyu interrupted him and replied, “That won’t be a problem.”

Lou possessed a certain level of poison immunity. He got the skill after absorbing the blood of the Maze of Heryond monsters. 

Clearly impressed by Gi-Gyu’s confidence, the manager exclaimed, “Uwaahh…. No wonder you’re an association merc!”  

“Umm, you’re embarrassing me. Please don't,” Gi-Gyu begged, making Sung-Hoon chuckle, “Hahaha.”

“Oh, of course, Mr. Morningstar.” The manager replied solemnly. 

Trying to change the subject, Gi-Gyu asked, “What type of internal structure does this gate have?”

“It’s a standard field shape. The interior resembles a graveyard, and other than the fact that you will suffer continuous damages, there isn’t anything else to note,” explained the manager. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” replied Gi-Gyu. 

The three men discussed the gate for a while before deciding that its difficulty couldn’t be much different from their expectations. The only other notable thing was…

‘The gate is an Ego.’

What it meant in terms of difficulty, monsters types, or even structure was a mystery. So, Gi-Gyu had no idea what he might face inside the gate. When Gi-Gyu remained quiet, Sung-Hoon asked quietly, “You think it’ll be too dangerous?”

The manager and Sung-Hoon weren’t aware that this gate was an Ego, yet they could sense something wasn’t right. If the gate broke, all the monsters inside would have a field day on the streets. Also, no player had ever returned from a broken gate: They simply “disappeared” inside the gate. And once they disappeared, no one could even find a single trace of those players. 

The Yeosu Gate had already exhibited signs of breaking once, so if it broke while Gi-Gyu was inside… 

Gi-Gyu asked, “What was the original break schedule for this gate?”

“We expected a little over three weeks,” replied the manager. 

“Then I’ll be fine.” Gi-Gyu knew why the gate turned red earlier, so he was confident the gate wouldn’t break while he was inside. He announced, “Then I’ll enter the gate first thing tomorrow morning.”

“How many agents do you think will be needed?” the manager asked. It was possible to ask for reinforcements from the association if necessary. And since the Yeosu Gate had already tried to break once, it definitely qualified for that. Gi-Gyu was the highest-ranking association member here, so he had the authority to make the call. 

Gi-Gyu commanded, “Please call as many reinforcements as possible. We must move as if the gate might break at any time. And”—Gi-Gyu swallowed audibly—“I’ll be entering the gate alone. Sung-Hoon, you must stay outside.”

“Pardon?” Sung-Hoon’s face was full of surprise. He asked, “You’re trying to leave me out of this?”

“Yes, this is going to be very dangerous. It might also have something to do with my ability, so I have no idea what could happen inside.”

“Well… If you insist, I guess I have no choice.” Sung-Hoon didn’t look happy, but Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “You need to keep yourself safe, Sung-Hoon.”

Gi-Gyu then turned toward the manager and ordered, “You saw how the gate was about to break earlier, right? That’s why I think it would be best for me to do this quickly. I’ll enter the gate tomorrow morning, so please call the association for backup.”

“Of course,” the manager nodded and replied with a rigid face. 

Turning back toward Sung-Hoon, Gi-Gyu added, “As for you, please call Tae-Shik hyung and let him know what’s going on here.”

“I got it.”

Now, Gi-Gyu felt confident that he had done everything he could to keep the city safe. Only one thing was left on the To-Do list: Enter the gate and face whatever was inside.

***

The manager offered to get Gi-Gyu a hotel room nearby so that he could sleep comfortably overnight, but Gi-Gyu decided to stay in the tent. Knowing the gate was an Ego, he couldn’t be sure if something might happen during the night, so he wanted to be nearby just in case. Besides, Gi-Gyu had slept in much smaller tents, so this clean and spacious association tent felt like a luxurious hotel to him.

However, the same wasn’t true for Sung-Hoon. Lying inside a sleeping bag, Sung-Hoon kept massaging his back as if he was in pain. He grumbled, “Why didn’t you accept the offer to stay in the hotel? And why the hell is this so uncomfortable?!”

“I told you that you could stay there if you wanted. Yet you insisted on sleeping here with me, Sung-Hoon!” When Gi-Gyu retorted, Sung-Hoon groaned and muttered, “Argh… Anyway, it’s time to get up. Let’s get packing and get out of here.”

Gi-Gyu nodded. They had already packed before going to bed last night, so there wasn’t much they had to do. Gi-Gyu’s bag included only the basics: Sleep gear, food, and some disposable items. It was all for one person, so there wasn’t much. 

After getting ready, Gi-Gyu and Sung-Hoon went out to find the manager. 

The manager asked, “Are you ready to go inside?” 

“Yes, I think I really have to close it as quickly as possible for everyone’s safety,” Gi-Gyu replied. 

“Ahh… An association merc indeed. Mr. Mornin—” When the manager was about to exclaim again in awe, Gi-Gyu interrupted him quickly, “Please, don’t.” 

‘Just what is the association feeding their managers? Why is he that awed by a single merc?’

Gi-Gyu felt awkward because the manager treated him like a hero. He also was surprised by how utterly clueless he was about association mercs before. If they were such heroic and revered figures, how come they weren’t well known?

The manager replied shyly, “All right, khoff…” 

“Please make sure you have firm control over this area,” Gi-Gyu asked the manager. 

“Of course. The reinforcements will arrive shortly. My men have already determined and secured the breakage perimeter, so please don’t worry.” 

“Thank you. And please remember, the gate might break the moment I get close to it, okay?”

“Yes, I understand.”

With a nod, Gi-Gyu laggard toward the gate. The association employees were already ordered to stay far away at a safe distance, so only Gi-Gyu could be seen approaching the blue light. With each step he took toward the gate, the gate turned a brighter shade of red. 

“Hmm…” When Sung-Hoon groaned, the manager asked worriedly, “Are you sure this will be okay?” Both Sung-Hoon and the manager watched with concern from afar. On the other hand, Gi-Gyu looked very peaceful as he continued to walk. 

Total silence fell in the area. Everyone watching the scene knew that the gate could break at any time, so the tension in the air was palpable. 

“Phew…” Gi-Gyu sighed quietly. He was walking toward the unknown, so he wasn’t completely free of fear either. 

Finally, he reached the gate and raised his hand to touch the now-red light.

[Would you like to sync?]

Without hesitation, Gi-Gyu answered, “Yes.”